"The first thing we do when we pull into a town is check and make sure our backstage requirements have been met," says Less Than Jake lead singer Chris Demakes (center). "Baby wipes are essential."

Contributed photo

Collectively, they're old enough to be dead. But individually the five guys in Less Than Jake are very much alive, and the 80 years of cumulative experience they've amassed bringing ska-punk to the masses has served them well. In other words, they learned enough over the past two decades to avoid the dreaded creative differences.

The band formed in Florida in 1992 and the group's debut CD, "Pezcore," followed three years later. They've been making albums and energizing fans ever since. A new CD, "Greetings and Salutations," will come out Jan. 8. It will feature 10 previously released tracks plus a pair of unreleased tunes: "Flag Holders' Union" and "View from the Middle."

Well, we're in Colorado Springs right now on the second day of a three-week tour. We're freezing our (butts) off. It's 37 degrees here right now. It's going to be 87 tomorrow in Las Vegas — a 50-degree difference.

What's it like in Gainesville? About 80?

Yeah, about 80 or 85 degrees and hot as hell.

What's the story on your new one, "Greetings and Salutations"? That's going to be a couple of EPs combined into one album?

Yeah, you got it. It's two EPs that we recorded, plus two unreleased songs for a total of 12 songs.

How many albums do you have now, a million?

Somewhere in the neighborhood, yes.

That's a lot. Twenty years of this — who knew?

Yeah, exactly, who knew? I pinch myself a lot. Just to see people turn up at the gigs after 20 years is pretty amazing. It's a good feeling.

You guys drive around all the time. What's the first thing you do when you get to town?

The first thing we do when we pull into a town is check and make sure our backstage requirements have been met. Baby wipes are essential.

Baby wipes? That's it? No green M&M's or Champagne from 1748 served by left-handed Capricorn redheads? You guys are such cheap dates.

No green M&M's just baby wipes. We have a pallet of baby wipes delivered backstage before each show. That's one of the necessities out here — baby wipes. That's the thing we look for before beer, liquor or anything.

Wow, who knew?

Exactly. It's a shower in a box.

What's the strangest gig you've ever played?

In 1997 we were on tour with the Descendents in San Bernardino out at the fairgrounds. We're playing in this giant airplane hangar and these skinheads showed up and rioted. The riot police came there with helicopters. It was pretty crazy.

Back in 1998 you guys did a Ska Against Racism tour. Did you guys play in any of the states that are not going to vote for Obama, and how did the people there react?

(Laughs) That was so long ago. We did have some people show up that were shouting some racist s--- at the shows, but we got them tossed out so that was the end of that. I think St. Louis is one of the places where we had some trouble and I seem to remember New Orleans as being stupid.

Have you ever had any weird meet-and-greet moments with fans?

Absolutely, yeah. That happens probably every gig. Someone will tell us, "When I heard this, it got me through a hard time." A lot of times people have us sign their arms and I always think, "What the bleep?" Because I know what they're doing now — they get our signatures tattooed on them. That's a pretty big commitment there. There's this one chick who lives in Tennessee — she has our logo huge on her left (butt) cheek in big letters.

You guys been everywhere. Does everyone think their hometown is boring? Are they right?

Pretty much everyone does. I mean, I haven't really met anyone from New York or Chicago who said their town is boring, but there's a lot of boring places across this country, that's for sure.

What's happening in Gainesville? I know it's a college town. Is it, therefore, also a rock 'n' roll town?

There's been a bunch of bands that have come out of there like Infamy and Hot Water Music. I don't know if you've heard of them but they've made a pretty good impact. It's a good little college town, you know? There's a good little music scene and people come out to the gigs. The community kind of supports itself like that.

This will be a preview for your show with Reel Big Fish in Ventura. You go way back with those guys, right?

Oh yeah. We've known those guys since the mid-90s.

So this is an inspired double bill?

Oh yeah. I think so. We always got along well with them and I think it will be a great show.

Tell me about your "TV/EP" release. How did you go about selecting the songs?

We kind of just split it up. We went on YouTube and started typing in commercials and jingles. A couple of us already knew what kind of songs we wanted to do. That's what's amazing about YouTube. You always find all these related things. I must have listened to 1,000 commercials and jingles. We all decided to put the best ones in the pile and those are the ones we ended up recording.

Why is ska music so awesome? Why is it still around and why isn't every song a ska song?

I just think it's fun. At the end of the day, no matter what sorts of musical trends are out there, ska is fun music that brings people together. It's music for people who like to party and have a good time. I think that's what explains the longevity of it.

The reason I asked is because the English Beat is playing here tonight in SoCal. It doesn't get much better than that.

The four core members of this band have been together for 20 years. Our sax player has been with us for 13 years.

He's the new guy?

Yeah, he's the new guy. Exactly. I'm proud of the fact that we're not a cheap imitation of the band. A lot of bands will take time off or get back together. We've been an active band for all 20 years. We've toured our (butts) off and we still bring it live. I think that's where our legacy will be.

If not this, what would you be doing?

Screwing you on an insurance policy.

Thank you very much.

I'd try be a door-to-door insurance salesman. I don't know why I say that, but that's my go-to answer after all these years.

Who would you pay to see?

Who would I pay to see? That's a great question.

And I always get different answers.

That's a great question because I've gotten to see them play or I've played with all of my heroes. I've played with Metallica. I can see my heroes when I go on tour, so I don't think I'd pay to see anybody.

You are such a lucky guy.

You know, I am really blessed.

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Less Than Jake

The Florida ska-punk group will perform tonight at 8 at the Majestic Ventura Theater, 26 S. Chestnut St., Ventura. Reel Big Fish, Flat Foot 56 and The Grittys will open the show. Tickets are $25. Call 653-0721 or visit venturatheater.net. The band's website is lessthanjake.com.